VANCOUVER, Wash. — Vancouver's third Safe Stay community, the next step in a city-backed initiative to build outdoor shelters for homeless people, is now close to opening. After some delays, the downtown location for tiny home pods should welcome its first residents just before Thanksgiving.
Neighbors had some extra time to get used to the idea of the site location, although it's still not welcomed by some.
The site is now named 415 West because of its location on West 11th Street. The fence posts are going in now — in the next month, the city block will be enclosed by a tall cedar fence surrounding this third Safe Stay community.
Like the first two, 415 West will house 20 pod homes and provide supportive services to help people out of homelessness.
“They'll have a case manager assigned to them or have one that's out in the community," said Jamie Spinelli, the city's homeless response manager. "And then it's one barrier after another — if you need your ID, if you need your birth certificate, if you need to apply for benefits, whatever that is."
Spinelli said they hoped to have this site open back January, but it turned into a bigger job that required bids from contractors.
The delay was OK with Sallie Reavey. She and her husband have owned and managed the Briar Rose Inn, a bed and breakfast located across the street from the site in Vancouver's downtown historic district, since 2006. KGW visited her more than a year ago, when the site was being proposed.
“I'm not sure how it's going to affect our business, not sure how it's going to affect me or my husband personally," said Reavey in Sept. 2022.
As the homeless community gets closer to opening, that uncertainty is still there for them. But Reavey said for her mental health, “I have put it out of my mind because there is not a thing I can do about it.”
There is no uncertainty about Vancouver’s homeless crisis. An open lot filled with tents behind city hall is the most obvious sign of that right now. Spinelli said some of the people in the lot will be helped at 415 West.
“We're coming up with a list already, some of those will come from behind city hall, others from near Share House, some of those from around the I-5 on- and off-ramps, and so I think a change will be noticed," she said.
Reavey acknowledged that she still doesn't want these new neighbors — but she hopes that it's all for the best.
“Call me NIMBY, but it's my business, and hopefully it will all be fine,” Reavey said. “If this helps, I’m all for it, even though it's in my backyard.”
The Safe Stay community living area on West 11th Street will take up half the block; the rest of the block will be some parking, a dog run and a little open space, all behind the fence. And as with the other Safe Stay locations, no homeless camping will be allowed for a thousand feet around it.
Spinelli said a fourth Safe Stay community at the north end of Main Street near Kiggins Bowl should open about a month after 415 West, hopefully before Christmas.